They say words once spoken can’t be taken back. We would say that it is rather retractable when compared to emails. With emails, the words will always be always there right in front of you, in black and white. And that is why you must be extremely careful while drafting emails that talk about your business. An email, once it is sent, cannot be taken back. In this article, we are going to explore 8 email marketing mistakes you ought to avoid to deliver a successful campaign through email.
Unclear Subject Lines
The first thing that a recipient notices about an email is the subject line and this is what you need to start with. Your subject line should be understandable and consistent with the content of the email. Avoid using tricks or vague language that does not state what the email contains.
Poor Email Hygiene
There are three main ways to ensure good email hygiene:
· Use automated cleaning campaigns to avoid high bounce rates as it can lower deliverability and reputation.
· Aim for a good sender reputation because it helps your inboxing rate (more on that in the next section).
· Improve your list reliability by managing soft bounces, role accounts, and unengaged subscribers.
Failure to Measure Email Inboxing
Avoid measuring the success of your email marketing campaign from the email delivery percentage rate. The reason for this is because all emails which are delivered may not have landed in the recipient’s primary inbox. Many emails might end up in spam folders. To measure where you stand, use tools that measure email inboxing. These tools can break down email delivery at a micro level.
No Engagement Segmentation
ISPs typically prioritize high levels of email engagement. They want to check if people are opening, reading, scrolling through, and engaging with your emails. To drive better results across the board, stagger with the sends. If you send the emails in high volumes, you can achieve good results by giving separate IPs to your email marketing campaigns based on:
· Subscriber importance
· Engagement
· Purpose
No Re-Engagement Strategy
The cost of acquiring a new customer is higher than the cost of keeping an existing one. With this in mind, you must engage using every possible technique to re-engage inactive subscribers or customers. To pull these customers back into the fold:
· Re-engage those who still want to hear from you
· Determine who doesn’t want to hear from you
· Clean up your email lists
Using Image-Based CTA Buttons
Use an HTML button instead of an image button which renders when the email hits the inbox.
No Mobile Optimization
Optimizing your campaign for mobile responsiveness is an absolute must in this mobile age. Designing your emails around this factor as well is something to take into consideration.
Bad Testing Decisions
Work to normalize test send times. Additionally, work with a large enough sample size and test more than once to ensure statistical significance. Finally, isolate tests to a single variable for clean testing.
The above tips can better equip you in following through on your next email marketing campaign and achieving the best results. Avoiding the most common mistakes that could hurt your success and credibility saves you and your customers time, money, and resources.
Want to know how to run the most effective email marketing campaigns? Click on the link below to watch a quick video and to download the whitepaper. 8 Pitfalls to Avoid in Email Marketing
